Songbirds
by bombsfadeaway
Summary: AU in which Blaine and Kurt meet at an outdoor school camp during their junior/senior years of high school.
1. Chapter 01

It was mid-September, the changing of the leaves in full swing and a slight nip in the air. Kurt loved this time of year, as he was finally able to start wearing his extensive collection of sweaters and scarves and could stop watching his father shuffle around in Crocs and start wearing real shoes again.

He almost lamented at the fact that he'd been forced to leave so many of his scarves behind for his duration as a student leader, but reminded himself that he'd be thankful when he got back and they were still clean, unsoiled by the dirt and general outdoors that somehow managed to permeate every article of clothing no matter how careful he was. Kurt liked the outdoors, he just didn't like when they got on his clothes.

"Now, are you sure you got everything you need?" hid dad asked from the driver's seat as they pulled into the parking lot where the bus that would be taking all the volunteers to camp was waiting. Burt eyed the two duffel bags in the back seat. "When we went to New York for vacation you took five bags of stuff, and that was only a one week trip!"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "_Yes, _dad. I know I'm taking a shocking amount less than usual, but this is camp. As much as I hate to admit it, I don't need coordinating outfits for each day with accessories to match. I'm going to be outside most of the time and I'm pretty sure no one there is going to care what brand my pants are."

Burt pulled up along the curb and got out, opening the back door to pull out Kurt's bags. Kurt leaned forward in his seat, checking his hair one final time before opening his door and following.

The bus was set to depart at 3pm, and although the pair had arrived a full hour early, there seemed to be an extraordinary number of people already present. They'd been told that there were four camps in the same area that would be sharing a bus, but only a dozen student leaders were assigned to each camp. Kurt let his eyes wander across the mass of people, wondering just who would be at camp with him as Burt brought his bags around.

Kurt looked over at his father for a moment, startled to see him with his eyes downcast and a slight frown on his face. "Aww, dad. It'll be fine. You have Carol and Finn...well, mostly Carol to take care of you while I'm gone! And I'll be back in just a few weeks. We have a few days of orientation and prepping the camp for all the kids to arrive, two weeks of actual camp, then a few days of teardown after the kids go home and we're done!" He patted his dad's arm, "I'll be back before you know it!"

Burt looked up, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "I know, kiddo. I'm just going to miss you is all." He pulled his son into a hug, sending Kurt's sunglasses askew. Kurt hugged back, knowing that while most times hugging his dad in front of a group of people would be borderline embarrassing, he was going to miss it over the next few weeks.

They pulled apart, Burt clapping a hand on his son's shoulder. "Go have fun, Kurt. And...try to make some friends, will ya?"

Kurt nodded, leaning over to pick up his bags, "Sure thing, dad. Rachel should be here somewhere, so at least I'll have her if everyone else ends up hating me- now all I have to hope is that we get put at the same camp. I'll see you on the 2nd when we get back. If you need anything while I'm gone that Carol can't take care of, I left the number for the camp on the fridge. And there's leftover chicken that you should probably eat in the next few days so it doesn't go bad, and make sure Finn stays out of my room and oh god maybe I should just stay-" Burt held up a hand, "Kurt, it'll be fine. We're going to have to get along without you when you go off to New York to be a big actor someday anyway. Think of this as, like, a trial run. If we're still alive and have all our limbs by the time you get back, we'll know it was a success. Now go on and find Rachel. I love you, kiddo."

Kurt smiled, "Love you too, dad."

He watched as his dad got back in the car, giving a small wave as he drove from the lot and out of sight. This was it. He was now officially on his own.

" OH MY GOD!"

...except for that.

A flurry of brown hair and sweater tackled him, blindsiding him from his left. Combined with the weight of the large bag slung over his shoulder, it was too much and Kurt found himself on the ground, a giggling Rachel sprawled out on top of him.

"Jesus, Rachel!" He exclaimed, attempting to shove her off of him and failing. "I've been here less than two minutes and you've already managed to get my pants all dirty and almost kill me. I hope you're pleased with yourself!" She rolled off of him, still shaking with laughter, and Kurt shot a dirty look she didn't see in her direction.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared over them, causing both to stop and look up, shielding their eyes against the sun.

"Are you okay?"


	2. Chapter 02

Blaine had been sitting on the curb by his bags as he watched the mass of people mill about. He didn't know anyone yet, the rest of his classmates opting to not "babysit a bunch of brats and get eaten alive by mosquitoes".

He'd seen the tall boy with dark copper hair get out of the car with his father, sighing a bit as he watched their embrace. His father had rarely hugged him like that after he'd come out, which Blaine never fully understood because it's not like whether he liked boys or not changed anything about the person he was. But his dad never seemed to accept that, preferring to always keep Blaine at an arm's length, both physically and emotionally.

He'd been lost in thought when he heard the shrill voice pierce the air, followed by a grunt of protest and the sight of two bodies toppling to the pavement. He immediately stood, glancing around as the others nearby pretty much just ignored them and carried on with their own chatter. A few tossed a glance their way, but then returned to conversation as though it was a frequent occurrence that didn't warrant any more attention other than making sure that they weren't bleeding or dead.

Blaine left his bags on the curb and walked over to the pair, not sure exactly why his feet were moving him when there didn't seem to be any cause for alarm, but going along anyway. He reached them right as the girl (who he thought he'd heard the boy call Rachel) was rolling away, still caught in a fit of giggles. They didn't seem to be hurt in any way, but the boy was definitely miffed.

"Are you okay?" he asked, eyebrows knitted in concern as he looked down at them.

The boy raised is glare of irritation from the girl, expression softening when he saw Blaine.

"Yeah, fine, thanks. Just an...enthusiastic reunion of friends." Rachel got to her feet and dusted herself off, not even trying to look like she wasn't pleased before taking a few steps to talk to someone else she seemed to know.

Blaine chuckled. "Well, I'm glad you're alright. It would be a bad start to break something right before camp. Here." He held out his hand.

The boy looked at it for a moment as though confused, but after a brief pause took it and allowed Blaine to hoist him to his feet before releasing his grip. "Thanks. I'm Kurt, by the way. And that over there is Rachel."

"I'm Blaine. It's nice to meet you, Kurt." It was then that one of the coordinators came on over a megaphone, indicating that anyone who hadn't checked in had better get their butts in gear or they weren't going to be getting on the bus.

"Crap, that's me. I should go. But I'll see you on the bus!" Blaine picked up one of Kurt's fallen bags off of the ground, handing it to him as he shrugged the other onto his shoulders. He muttered his thanks before lumbering off, Rachel casting a quick smile back at Blaine before leaving her friend and following Kurt over to the registration table.

Blaine shuffled back off to where his bags were waiting on the curb, hoisting them up and moving over to where they were loading luggage into the back hatch of the bus. Two of the students were making feeble attempts to lift a rather large and bright pink bag into the back, sighing with relief as Blaine offered his assistance. The least he could do was make himself useful, he thought.

Kurt raced off to the registration table with Rachel hot on his heels. He was only moderately peeved with her for nearly killing him in the parking lot, but a majority of that resolve had melted away with the arrival of Blaine, who so easily broke the tension.

"I still can't believe you did that." He said, looking back at her as the girl behind the table found his name on the roster.

Rachel answered with a smirk, "Oh come on, Kurt! You know you love me. Plus, you got to talk to a cute boy out of it, so you can't hate me too much. Did you see those gorgeous hazel eyes? And that curly hair? What a dreamboat! And I'll bet you my next paycheck that he's gay- no straight guy I know would come to help someone who'd fallen over and completely ignore the girl. Now hurry up so we can get your stuff on the bus. I already took care of mine, and given how many people we're trying to fit on this bus, you don't want to be the one who ends up with your bags on your lap."

Kurt rolled his eyes, taking the camp assignment packet handed to him and thanking the girl before moving his things over to the back of the waiting bus. He seemed to be one of the last people to hand off his things, as evidenced by the several rows of bus seats that looked like a Tetris master had had their way with them. He held his bag up as far as he could manage, blocking his view as he struggled to hoist it into the rear of the vehicle, hoping he wouldn't be turned away and told that he had to hold his bag, and was surprised when a pair of hands lifted the weight easily from his arms. He looked up to see the boy from before- _Blaine_- his brain supplied moving his bag into the back before turning back to him.

Now that Rachel had mentioned it, he _was _pretty good looking, all dark wild curls and ridiculously strong looking arms and just a hint of stubble. _Woah, Kurt. Don't get ahead of yourself. You just met the guy. And he might not even be gay._

"Hey! Get all checked in?" Blaine asked, reaching for Kurt's second bag that he'd held up. Kurt nodded, thankful that Blaine seemed to be able to find a spot for his stuff under one of the seats. "Good. Which camps will you both be with?" he inquired, trying to include Rachel in the conversation as well.

Rachel brightened, "_Well,_ Kurt here hasn't even opened his packet yet," she elbowed him in the side, cueing Kurt to shoot her another look before tearing open the manila envelope he'd been given. "But I'll be at Camp Howard, which, if my research is correct, is one of the nicer camps out of the bunch. They have cabins with electricity and a superb view from one of the bluffs. I did research on _all _of the camps, just so I knew what I was in for when the time came. I like to be prepared for any possible outcome in a situation."

Blaine wasn't sure if it was good or bad news that he'd be sharing a camp with Rachel, but he decided to take it in stride. "Me too! At least I'll kind of know one person there. It seems like everyone else kind of already has their own groups of friends..." He looked around for a moment, then back to Kurt, who had extracted several sheets of paper from the envelope and was scanning them.

Before he could get a word out to ask where Kurt was going, the shriek from Rachel told Blaine that Kurt would be joining them at Camp Howard. He watched with amusement as Rachel wrapped her arms around Kurt, jumping up and down and exclaiming in a sing-song voice something about best friends and camping and how it was going to be the most magical experience of their lives.

"Looks like we'll all be together." Kurt said, extracting himself from Rachel's death grip. "I'll let you finish up here, then maybe we can sit near each other on the drive there? Since, you know, we'll be spending the next few weeks together and stuff. We can talk and get to know each other better. We'll save you a seat."

Rachel gave Kurt a playful jab and, as they turned to walk around to the front of the bus, Blaine could have sworn that he saw the faintest of blushes appear on Kurt's cheeks.


	3. Chapter 03

The bus ride was mostly uneventful. True to their word, Kurt and Rachel had saved him a seat next to an overstuffed duffel bag that hadn't fit anywhere else. Throughout the ride, Blaine learned that the pair were in high school together, starting their senior year. Rachel was the captain of the glee club (this earned a questioning eyebrow from Kurt) and held the lead in several school musicals as well as had two gay dads and was well on her way to being a Broadway star.

In fact, a majority of the bus ride was Rachel talking about Rachel, although Blaine couldn't really complain. Not when he'd been so worried about having people like him or not being able to make any friends. It also gave him a chance to watch Kurt, whose expressions in response to Rachel's comments were quite a bit more entertaining than Rachel herself.

"So, Blaine. Do you have a girlfriend?"

Blaine was only moderately surprised at the question, as it cropped up more frequently than he'd prefer. "Actually, I'm gay. So no, no girlfriend. Or boyfriend, since that would probably be the next question."

Even though Kurt already had an impossibly good sense of fashion and a higher voice than most other men, Blaine had learned before never to assume anything. But the look Rachel shot to Kurt after his answer left Blaine with the suspicion that he wasn't the only gay guy on the bus.

Camp Howard was the last stop on the route, and there was a flurry of activity at each camp before them as groups of student leaders exited the bus and somehow managed to pull their bags out of the fray in back. Soon, there were just twelve of them left along with the driver and the Howard staff member assigned to deliver them.

Blaine glanced around at the others. There was a small girl in the back with a head of wild blonde curls who had her nose stuck in a book, a lanky looking boy with dark skin and apparently a great sense of humor, as the brunette girl in the seat behind him burst into laughter. There was also a girl with short black hair and glasses, talking quietly to a redheaded boy who seemed to be bouncing up and down in his seat, and two frat-looking boys chatting with a tattooed blonde but completely ignoring the girl next to her.

They all looked to be around Blaine's age, though the staff member couldn't have been much older. He'd been quiet most of the trip, going through what looked to be schedules, but by Blaine's guess had to be in his mid-twenties. If he was any older than that, Blaine certainly couldn't tell- the full beard and long hair hid any additional signs of age.

The bus eventually slowed and made a turn onto a gravel road, causing everyone to stop their chatter and look up expectantly. It wasn't long before they passed underneath a large sign hanging between two trees that read "Welcome to Camp Howard" and laid eyes on what would be their new home for the next few weeks.

As the group got off the bus, it took a few moments to really take it all in. The area they'd arrived in looked to be a main gathering space- a large open field sprawled in front of a sizable building labeled with a wooden sign as "Dining Hall", with several smaller gravel trails leading away in different directions. They couldn't see much beyond the mass of evergreen trees that seemed to be everywhere, but as Blaine was craning his neck to catch a glimpse of what looked to be another large building in the distance, he was called back to attention by the bearded staff member stepping off the bus.

"Hello everyone, and welcome to Camp Howard!" Everyone echoed back their hellos, and the man smiled before continuing.

"My name is Moose, and I'll be just one of the many staff members you'll encounter during your stay here at Howard. That's not my real name, of course- you'll find those out at the end. Speaking of which, I hope you all came prepared with your chosen names. We like to make it fun for both the kids and staff to come up with a different name to use during the week. Usually they're nature-inspired given our surroundings, but pretty much anything goes."

At that moment, a woman with long dreadlocks exited the Dining Hall, holding a crate and making her way down to them.

"Ah, here's Osprey now with your wood cookies!"

It became apparent just why they were called 'wood cookies' right away. Each student leader was handed a thin ring of wood with two holes drilled in it and a thick cord looping through them to make a necklace.

Blaine turned his over in his hands. The wood was smooth, though the shape was a bit off from being a perfect circle, and he was trying to picture just how he'd write his name on it when Moose began speaking again.

"These are what you'll be writing the names you've chosen on and will serve as your nametag during your stay. Please make sure to wear them at all times unless showering or sleeping. Once we get you all settled into your cabin assignments, you'll meet back at the dining hall where we'll have dinner and have some Sharpies available so you can decorate your wood cookies. Now gather 'round so we can pair you off into cabin mates. Each cabin is assigned two student leaders and ten kids. It is your responsibility to keep them all alive for the next few weeks."

He waited for the laughter to die down before continuing, "Since most of you don't know each other, we've assigned you all randomly to cabins. We do this with the hopes that you'll all be mature and get along, however if any problems arise, do not hesitate to let myself or one of the other staff know and we'll get it sorted out."

The boys and girls, they learned, would be in two separate cabin areas. The boys would be in a cluster of cabins on the South side of the camp, while the girls were placed in an area to the North of the dining hall. Each area had a communal bathroom with showers, and cabins would be on a rotating schedule of whose kids got showers during free time.

Student leaders, they were told, were afforded the luxury of having a blocked out spot of "meeting time" each day ("but don't tell the kids that it's just time for you to take a break from them"), so in theory they could shower daily if they wanted to. And boy did Kurt want to. He'd hardly gone a day in his life without showering or going through his skincare routine. It wasn't that he minded getting a bit dirty- he just preferred not to wallow in it if he didn't have to.

After a few more instructions, during which each of them was handed a tiny laminated schedule with their cabin assignments on the back to keep with them, the groups set off to their respective areas with bags in tow.

It wasn't a terribly long walk, but the added weight of his bags made Kurt lag behind a bit. Blaine took this as an opportunity to hang back.

"So which cabin are you in?" he asked, shifting his bag from one shoulder to the other.

Kurt looked down at his schedule, "Cougar cabin. You?"

"Bear." Blaine said, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice. He'd hoped to be paired up with Kurt since he hadn't even spoken with any of the other guys, and he certainly wanted to get to know him a bit better, but knew that it would have been too good to be true. "I wonder who I'm paired up with, then..."


	4. Chapter 04

They reached the circle of cabins, and Kurt and Blaine parted ways. Kurt walked up the little porch of the pale green cabin labeled as "Cougar", and pushed open the door.

It was relatively nice inside, with several sets of bunk beds and windows lining the walls. There were even curtains, which came as a surprise, although they didn't look like anything Kurt would have ever picked out. He was just looking around the room, wondering which bunk to pick when the door pushed open behind him.

"Hello!" Kurt said as a way of greeting, watching one of the brown-haired boys from earlier make his way into the cabin and toss his bags on the floor. Kurt noted that the expression on his face wasn't completely friendly as he laid eyes on who he'd be rooming with. _He must be mad he didn't get to room with his friend..._ "I'm Kurt. Or, I guess, Sparrow for the time that we're here." He held out his hand, "It's nice to meet you...um..."

"Jackal." The boy grunted, taking Kurt's hand briefly and shaking it once.

They spent the next few minutes in silence, laying out their sleeping bags on the two beds flanking either side of the door and pushing their duffel bags underneath for storage. Jackal left without a word to Kurt, who was a bit stung but brushed it off as he followed a minute later to meet everyone up at the dining hall.

He spotted Blaine quickly and sat across from him, eager to find a friendly face after his encounter with Jackal.

"So what am I going to be calling you this week?" Kurt asked as they waited for the remainder of student leaders to file in.

Blaine grinned, "Warbler."

Kurt's eyebrows raised a bit, imploring him to explain. "I was part of a glee club in school, and that's what we were. The Warblers." He shrugged, "It's kind of predictable on my part, but I honestly couldn't think of anything that fit as well. What about you?"

"Sparrow. My mother loved the sparrows that would always hang around our backyard." He smiled fondly, remembering how his dad would always complain about the noise the birds made, but his mom would just laugh and hold him close and tell him how ridiculous he was being. This was followed by a brief feeling of sadness that she was no longer with them, but he quickly wiped it away and turned back to smile at Blaine.

Blaine watched the emotions flicker across Kurt's face, but didn't probe. "That's a really nice name, and a good story behind it. My cabin mate's name is Badger, but from what little he said to me during our unpacking time I don't know if there's anything behind it. Maybe he just likes badgers."

Kurt frowned, "My roommate wasn't exactly welcoming either. Let me guess, yours is the other brown-haired guy that looks like a bit like a jock?" Blaine nodded. "I'll bet they were hoping to get paired up. I hope this doesn't mean I have to live with sour looks and one word answers for the next few weeks."

Kurt was intrigued that Blaine had been in a glee club as well, and asked about it. But Blaine had barely gotten two words out before Hurricane Rachel bounded seemingly from nowhere up to their table and plopped herself next to Kurt. "Oh my _god_ you guys! My cabin mate is just absolutely _perfect!"_

The two boys exchanged a look. At least one of them could have someone nice to live with for the next few weeks, but it was a pity that it wouldn't be either of them. Rachel gushed on for several minutes about Snapdragon, the short dark-haired girl with glasses from the bus. According to Rachel, they hit it off right away, and Snapdragon was in awe of her talent. Kurt briefly wondered just how many times Rachel would be serenading their cabin, and wondered if he could get Blaine to make a bet with him.

Dinner passed (macaroni and cheese with salad as a side), and each student leader was presented with a selection of Sharpies to decorate their wood cookies with. Kurt went to work immediately on his, embellishing his name with a flourish of swirls and decorative dots. Blaine went with a more standard approach, merely writing "Warbler" in block letters and adding a silhouette of a bird perched on the last 'r'. He looked over at Rachel's tag and had to suppress a chuckle.

"Star, huh?"

Rachel smiled, holding up her tag which now read "Star" in big bold swirling letters and had a flurry of stars covering the remainder of open space. "It's only fitting that my name be the most accurate representation of who I am as possible."

Kurt's shoulders shook as he tried and failed to hold in his laughter. Rachel looked a bit indignant, but simply jabbed her friend in the side with the marker she was holding as a means of quieting him.

"Ow! Fine. If that's the game you're going to play," He got up and moved across the table, sliding into the seat next to Blaine, "I'll just sit by Blaine until you can learn to behave yourself and stop trying to break my ribs."

Rachel spent the rest of the evening looking quite pleased with herself.

They retired for the night, a staff member who introduced himself as Jerico explaining to them that they should get some sleep and be prepared to learn tomorrow.

After saying goodnight to Blaine and parting ways, Kurt quickly grabbed his toiletry bag and pajamas from the cabin and got ready for bed in the communal bathroom building. After he was finished, he walked back to the cabin and opened the cabin door to find Jackal pulling on his pajama bottoms, chest still bare.

He averted his gaze quickly, but felt Jackal's eyes on his back as he put his things away and hurriedly climbed into the bunk. He wasn't sure what this guy's problem was, but he hoped it would improve as they got to know each other better. After all, they'd be spending close to three weeks in each other's company.

He slept fitfully that night, waking up entirely too early for his liking but eager to get dressed and out of the cabin before Jackal could give him any more stink eye looks.

The next three days passed in a blur. The group of student leaders learned every rule of the camp, from the "side hug rule" (and how to deflect any over-eager students that tried to hug them full-on) and the "don't let any kid go anywhere by themselves not even to the bathroom in the middle of the night" rule, to the lessons they'd be teaching during the day about certain aspects of nature (Soil, Water, Plants and Animals), what the giant fire alarm bell was outside the dining hall and what to do if they heard it going off, and how to handle a kid who became homesick or real sick.

Kurt and Blaine stayed together most of the time, both of them being less than enthusiastic about spending time with their assigned cabin mates and enjoying each other's company more instead. Jackal was still barely speaking to him, and Blaine wasn't fairing much better with Badger. He seemed like he was trying to be nice, but there seemed to be an air of annoyance to everything he said to Blaine.

Before they knew it, the training and setup time was over. After one last sweep of the camp to ensure that everything had been set up, followed by lunch, they had been told to listen for the fire bell to indicate that the busses of kids were arriving and that they needed to meet back at the dining hall. They had been given free roam up until that point to hang out and get to know each other better. Rachel was off with Snapdragon somewhere, so Kurt and Blaine had opted to lounge outside of Blaine's cabin on the steps for the duration, speculating on what their respective groups of kids would be like and how the next two weeks would go. Just after 4pm, the bell sounded, and they made their way up the path to the field outside the dining hall.

The sorting of the 6th graders into cabins reminded Blaine a bit of the Sorting Ceremony in the Harry Potter books. It wasn't as theatrical and didn't involve a hat, but a cabin name would be called and the kids would wait with baited breath to hear which of the cabins they'd be put in and who their student leaders would be.

Once all the groups had been sorted out, each pair of student leaders took their kids to find their bags and led the way back to the cabin that would serve as their home for the next two weeks. Kurt thought his kids looked like they were enthusiastic to be there, although he noticed that one of the boys in Blaine's group seemed to be crying already.

He caught up to Blaine as their groups walked down the trail. "You think he's going to be okay?" Kurt asked, gesturing back to the boy in the rear of the group by Badger.

"Yeah, Moose told me he's just never been away from home for this long before. I think he's just scared. But he'll be having fun by the end, I guarantee it." Blaine grinned, and Kurt's pulse seemed to speed up by a few beats. He looked back to his group and noticed Jackal eyeing him warily, then turn to exchange a look with Badger. _I wonder what that's about..._

They passed Blaine's cabin and said their goodbyes before going across the way to Cougar cabin. They got the boys settled in and ready for dinner with little trouble. There were a few arguments over who would get top bunks, but Kurt put a stop to them by suggesting they take turns and switch after one week, which the boys agreed to. Kurt only saw Blaine briefly from across the room at dinner, leaning over and talking animatedly to the boy who had been in tears earlier. From the looks of it, Blaine was doing a good job at helping the boy feel better, and Kurt couldn't help but feel some admiration for him.

By lights out at 9pm, everyone was exhausted. Kurt slept well that night, dreaming of hazel eyes and a head of dark curls.


	5. Chapter 05

Kurt may have intentionally woken his cabin up ten minutes early to ensure they would be down at the bathrooms by the time Blaine and his boys arrived. Leaving Jackal back at the cabin to keep an eye on a few stragglers, the rest of his group shuffled down the trail, barely speaking to one another as they carried their toiletry bags down to the building. Kurt ushered them inside but held back to lean against a tree and wait. It'd be crowded enough as it is in there, and he didn't want to add to the fray.

He'd only closed his eyes for a moment before he heard the voice from behind him, thick with morning grogginess.

"'Morning."

Kurt couldn't help the smile that rose to his lips as he opened his eyes and turned.

"Good morning yourself, Mr. Warbler." He watched Blaine's kids file past and into the bathroom. "And how are you this fine day?"

Blaine shook his head a bit. "This whole having to get ten kids up and ready in the morning without coffee first thing is hard. I never truly believed that I needed it to function each day until right about now."

Kurt hummed sympathetically, eyes following Jackal as he escorted the last two boys into the bathroom.

"Things still rough with the roommate?" Blaine asked.

Kurt nodded. "He seems to have moved past one-word answers. We're up to almost complete sentences now!" he chuckled, "I still don't get what his issue with me is. I keep going back over all our interactions, wondering if I offended him in some way."

"Maybe he's just a jackass."

The next morning, Blaine was awake and shuffling about the cabin when he heard a knock at the door. Not sure who to expect at this hour, he padded over, still in his pajamas, and opened it to find an empty stoop. That is, empty except for a steaming mug of-

"Coffee!"

Blaine looked around, looking for confirmation of who he knew had to be behind this pleasant gift. He picked up the mug, breathing deep as he took a sip. It was perfect. Today was going to be a good day.

He caught up with Kurt at breakfast, helping get the kids settled at their table with Badger before scanning the hall. He spotted Kurt's head of dark copper hair easily in the crowd and moved up behind him.

"So, a little birdie left me a rather nice present on my stoop this morning..." He leaned over and whispered into Kurt's ear. "I don't suppose you had anything to do with that, Sparrow?"

Kurt jumped a bit at the feeling of unexpected hot breath on his neck, but managed to arrange his face into somewhat of a confused look before turning to Blaine.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Someone would have to be crazy to sneak down to the dining hall early, bribe the cook with their smooth talk, then carry a hot mug of coffee all the way back to the cabins. Must've been the coffee fairy."

Blaine smiled, "Well, tell the coffee fairy thank you for me if you see them. It really made my morning ten times better. I've got to get back to my table, but I'll see you at lunch, if not sooner."

He straightened up and started walking back to his own table. He was too lost in his own thoughts to notice Jackal eying them both from the other end of the table.

It was later that day when Kurt had gone to take his first shower that it happened. He retrieved a change of clothes and his bag of shower supplies from the cabin and made his way into the building. The showers were nothing fancy- just a row of showerheads with chest-high tile divider walls and a curtain to pull across each one on the open side.

Jackal was already in one of the stalls, rinsing some shampoo out of his hair and looking like he was nearly finished. Kurt gave him a cordial smile, quickly taking the stall furthest away and closed the curtain to begin undressing, setting his items on the provided shelf.

"You gay or something?" The voice rang out, echoing against the tiles.

Kurt stilled, his hands hovering above his bag where he'd just placed his jeans. Unsure of whether it would be wise to answer or not, he stayed motionless, not daring to breathe as he weighed his options. He heard the water of Jackal's shower stop, then the slap of wet feet across the floor. The curtain of his shower ripped open and Kurt turned, backing against the wall.

Jackal stood with a towel around his waist, still dripping from the shower. His eyes burned with something Kurt had only seen once before, something in the eyes of his high school bully when he'd threatened to kill him- hatred. He took a step into the stall, cornering Kurt.

"I saw you watching me undress the other day, you pervert. And shamelessly flirting with that Warbler kid. Badger says he's a queer too. You wanna suck his dick? Bet you do, you nasty mother fucker."

Kurt just stared, unable to make his mouth form words.

"Disgusting, that's what you people are. Bunch of faggots. The world would be so much better without you perverts in it."

Kurt braced himself, unsure of what would happen next. The silence of waiting was deafening.

But then, the creak of the bathroom door snapped everything back into its place. Someone else was here. Someone to help him. Someone to-

_No..._

Badger.


	6. Chapter 06

As soon as Badger rounded the corner, it took all of Kurt's strength to keep his knees from buckling out from beneath him.

This was it. It was over. They'd get kicked out of camp for sure after this. Kurt knew it. Jackal and Badger knew it. But Kurt had a feeling that at this point they didn't care. Threatening Kurt was already past the point of no return. All that was left to determine was how bad the damage would be.

There Kurt was, standing in his underwear and t-shirt, feeling entirely helpless and trying his best to not let the tears fall. He'd been through this before- the ignorance, the searing hatred for just being who he was. He knew that there were more people like his high school bully in the world, but he hadn't expected to run into them here. And he knew that Jackal didn't like him from day one, but he had convinced himself that it was for any number of other reasons, anything that would spare him from being just another ill-bred homophobe.

"Badger, this guy here's a queer. He was watching me undress- probably got off on it too, the sicko. What do you think we should do about that?"

Badger looked over his shoulder at Kurt, "I dunno, Jackal. I hate a homo as much as the next guy, but you'll get kicked out if you touch him."

Jackal addressed Badger, but never let his eyes leave Kurt, "I know that, dumbass. But I can't stand another day in that cabin with this _freak_. I'd rather beat the gay out of him and get kicked out than stay here and have him leering at me every day for two weeks."

Badger shrugged then, actually _shrugged_ at his friend who was going to beat the living crap out of Kurt. "Do what you want then. I'll see you back home I guess." And with that, he was gone.

Jackal closed in then, smiling cruelly and raising his fist as Kurt's back rammed into the pipe behind him. He closed his eyes, bracing for the blow.

There it was.

The door.

Was Badger back?

Did he change his mind about beating on Kurt?

Blaine rounded the corner, a towel draped over one arm and his toiletry bag in the other. He froze, taking in the scene laid out before him.

There was Kurt, obviously cornered and terrified, and Jackal, who had his fist raised but had halted because of Blaine's unexpected arrival. Kurt hesitantly opened one eye.

It happened so fast Kurt barely had time to process it. One second this big burly man was towering over him, and the next second...he was gone.

"What the _fuck_ is going on here?"

Blaine had hauled Jackal out of the shower stall and pressed him up against the opposing wall, one arm pressed against his neck and the other against his chest. Kurt could only see the back of his head now, but the look of fear in Jackal's eyes told him he never wanted to be on the receiving end of whatever look Blaine was giving him.

"N-nothing. We were just talking." Jackal stuttered, still looking down at Blaine with absolute terror.

"Just talking? That's not what it looked like. You got a problem with Kurt that we should tell the staff about? Because you know they're going to find out about this. You're out of here, Jackal- go pack your shit. Your ignorance is not welcome here."

He released Jackal then, watching him with hardened eyes as the other man gathered his things and left the bathroom, still draped in his towel.

The moment the door clicked closed, Kurt couldn't stand a moment longer. His knees gave way and he collapsed to the tile floor of the stall, tears falling freely.

Blaine appeared at his side. "Are you okay?" he asked, kneeling down next to Kurt and placing a hand on his knee.

Kurt couldn't stop the tears, and rather than try to respond, he turned and buried his face in Blaine's chest. In some back part of his mind, he knew this was against one touching rule or another, but he didn't care. Blaine tensed for a moment at the unexpected contact, but then relaxed and moved his arms to wrap around Kurt, instinctively rubbing small circles on his back the way his mother used to when he was upset.

How long they sat like that, Kurt didn't know. He cried until he couldn't cry anymore, Blaine holding him all the while and whispering reassuring words into his hair.

Kurt didn't see the few tears that fell down Blaine's own cheeks.

Eventually, Kurt stilled, only the occasional sniff sounding from where he'd buried his face. Blaine took the opportunity to discreetly dry his eyes.

"I'm s-sorry." Kurt managed, lifting his head and wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand.

Blaine looked shocked, "Sorry? Sorry for what? Kurt, that Neanderthal was going to...I don't even want to think about what he was going to do if I hadn't walked in when I did."

Kurt blinked at him a few times, his eyes red and his complexion blotchy from the tears. "I'm sorry you had to step in- I should have been able to handle it by myself. Then I went and sobbed all over you, which isn't exactly super funtimes."

Blaine pulled Kurt close then, much to the surprise of both men, and wrapped both arms around him tightly.

"I don't care about any of that. I'm just glad you're safe."

Kurt relaxed into the hug, feeling at ease for the first time since entering the bathroom. He was safe, and it was Blaine he had to thank for it. Blaine with his strong arms and head full of curls and a smell that was somewhere between fresh soil and honey.

They broke apart after a moment, sharing a small smile.

Then realization struck as Kurt realized they were on the floor of the bathroom.

And he was hugging Blaine.

And he was in his underwear.

A flush broke out on Kurt's skin, and Blaine seemed to realize what was going on at the same moment. He chuckled, attempting to break the tension, before rising to his feet.

"Did you still want to shower?" he asked, nodding to Kurt's supplies which had been laid out. "I think we're a bit past free time by now, but once we go talk to Moose I'm sure he'll understand."

Kurt nodded. Especially after being in such close proximity to Jackal, he was eager to scrub the feeling of fear-born sweat and tears off of himself.

Blaine helped him to his feet, and Kurt couldn't help but flash back to their very first meeting, when Rachel had tackled him to the ground in the parking lot. Blaine released his hand perhaps a bit slower than last time, moving from the stall and to where his things had dropped to the floor.

Kurt closed the shower curtain, finished getting undressed and turned on the water, purposely scalding his skin.

Surprisingly, Blaine took the stall immediately next to him, but they carried on little conversation as they showered.

When they were finished and dressed, Kurt decided to drop his things off at Blaine's cabin for the time being rather than potentially run into Jackal again. He'd had enough confrontation for one day.


	7. Chapter 07

A note from the author: This story has over 500 views now! That is absolutely insane to me. I've had this story in my head for so long that I never thought I'd write it, but thanks to some inspiration from themuse19 I've been able to get off my butt and actually do something about it.

Please feel free to leave reviews about Songbirds and let me know what you think! I'd love to hear from you. =)

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The conversation with Moose went pretty much exactly as they anticipated. Moose sat them down in the back of the dining hall and had them go over exactly what happened, making notes in a report. He assured them that Jackal would be packing his bags and off the camp by sundown, and they'd find Kurt a new cabin mate. Kurt denied a phone call home to his father, explaining that while he's sure his dad would want to know what happened, he didn't want to put him under any unnecessary stress when he couldn't be here.

"I have some concerns about Badger." Moose said, "I know you said he didn't do or say anything to you, but he didn't do anything to stop it either, which is just as bad. And while I don't think that's enough of a reason to kick him out of camp, I think he may need some monitoring by a staff member."

Moose looked between the two.

"Blaine, would you consider being Kurt's cabin mate for the rest of your time here? I know it's a lot to ask and your kids may not like the change, but it seems like we're in a tight spot and I'd appreciate it if you could step in."

Blaine felt like the heavens had opened and a choir of angels were singing praises.

"Uh...sure. Yeah, that's okay with me." _Eloquent response, Shakespeare. _"As long as it's okay with Kurt."

He turned to look at Kurt then, and the grin on Kurt's face told both him and Moose that it would be more than okay.

Moose nodded, "Alright then. Jackal is going to be sent to get his stuff as soon as I'm finished with you two. He's with your kids right now, Kurt, but I'll get Jerico to look after them until we get things settled. Given the afternoon you two have had, I think we'll just give you the rest of the day off. Just be back in time for the meeting tonight at ten after you get your kids put to bed. We'd obviously like you to join us for campfire tonight as well, as first campfires are always special. But it's not a requirement and Jerico can keep an eye on your boys. Now go take a nature hike or something. Have some fun. "

Kurt and Blaine walked out of the dining hall, only to stand awkwardly on the porch. They'd been going nonstop since arriving at camp, and suddenly having some time to just do whatever they pleased was an unexpected surprise- neither boy was really sure what to do with themselves.

Blaine was the first to speak.

"It'll probably be a bit before they can get Jackal moved out and I can take my stuff over to your cabin. Do you...want to go for a walk?"

Kurt nodded, but kept quiet as they made their way around the field and down a gravel path that lead east. The crunched along in silence for a bit before reaching the empty bluff campfire area, where two rows of large logs were laid out as benches with a wide aisle between them. The view was breathtaking- evergreen trees stretching as far as the eye could see and blanketing the hillside below. There was a bench swing behind the rows of logs, and Blaine nodded towards it, raising his eyebrows in question. Kurt nodded and followed him over, taking a seat.

Blaine made sure not to sit too close, not knowing exactly what Kurt's emotional state was at the moment but still wanting to reassure Kurt that he was there for him. The silence was almost unnerving, but he refrained from asking what the matter was- his mom always told him that if he just let it be, people would open up when they were ready. Instead, he let them sit peacefully, taking in the spectacular view and rocking them gently on the swing.

Blaine estimated that at least a half hour had passed before Kurt finally spoke.

"Thank you."

Blaine turned to face him. "Kurt..."

But Kurt held his hand up, "No, seriously. Thank you. I...I'm sorry you had to go through that and put up with that idiot and be the hero because I couldn't stand up to him like some poor delicate thing."

Blaine inched closer on the bench, putting his arm around the back but not touching Kurt, whose eyes were trained on his hands in his lap.

"I hate that I put you in that position. But I really do have to thank you." He looked up then, blue eyes connecting with hazel. "You saved me, Blaine. As cheesy as it sounds, that's what happened. And now the rest of my time here is going to be better because of you."

Blaine's hand was over Kurt's now- _When did that happen?- _thumb rubbing gently along his palm. His heart felt like it was going to leap out of his chest, it was pounding so hard. His gut told him to move, and he leaned in closer, following the instinct that told him that now was the right time.

Kurt didn't hesitate before mirroring the movement, their faces drawing closer together and eyes closing as their lips-

Crunching footsteps on the path to their left startled them both and they jumped apart. Blaine thought he saw a look of slight panic in Kurt's eyes, but dismissed it with an awkward chuckle. They scooted apart marginally as one of the female staff members (whose nametag announced her as Hana) made her way down the path. She spotted them on the bench, waved and came over.

"Moose said to find you guys and tell you that Jackal has been...removed." Her lip curled, "I can't believe someone would come here and do something like that to another person. I'm sorry you guys had to deal with that. But yeah, Blaine's free to move his stuff in whenever you guys get back." She smiled then, "I'm glad you two didn't go much further- Moose said something about a nature hike and I was afraid I'd have to search the entire camp to find you guys!"

They thanked her and listened as she strolled back the way she'd come. Blaine was almost scared to meet Kurt's eyes then. He'd only known this boy for a week and tried to kiss him. _What kind of person does that? He must be totally freaked out now. Oh god, how am I going to live in the same cabin as him for two weeks?_

He dared to raise his eyes to Kurt, who he was relieved to see looked at ease. He wasn't sure if he should mention what almost happened or not, but Kurt seemed to make that decision for him as he stood from the bench.

"Shall we?" he asked, offering his arm to Blaine in an exaggerated fashion. Blaine laughed, standing and looping his arm through Kurt's. "We shall!"

The move was relatively painless. Because it was afternoon recreation time for both the kids and student leaders, both cabins were empty when they retrieved Blaine's belongings and moved them over to Cougar cabin.

Blaine placed his items on the floor next to the bed that used to be Jackal's and sat down on the mattress. The cabin looked the same as the one he'd just left, but the vibe inside was just...so much better. Kurt must have felt it too, because he flopped down on the bed next to Blaine and sighed contentedly.

"This is crazy." Blaine said, "When I signed up for this thing, I never in my wildest dreams thought something like this would happen. Nearly pummeling idiots, switching cabins, meeting you..."

Kurt's attention perked at this, and he propped himself up on his elbows. "I never thought things would turn out like this either. But all things considered...I'm kind of glad it did."

It would have been so easy for Blaine to lean over them, to capture Kurt's lips with his own and run his hands through that hair as they fell back onto the mattress...

But he didn't- because his gut told him that now wasn't the right time.


	8. Chapter 08

Neither boy was sure how it happened. Perhaps it was the cool breeze wafting through the cabin or the adrenaline from their encounter earlier finally wearing off, but the next thing Blaine knew, he was waking up sprawled across his mattress, feet still dangling off from when he'd been sitting up earlier.

He opened his eyes slowly, blinking against the sunlight streaming in through the thin curtains, before realizing that he wasn't alone in the bed. There was an arm draped across his midsection- an arm that belonged to Kurt.

Blaine looked over in surprise- he remembered Kurt laying down on the mattress next to him, but didn't seem to recall himself lying down or drifting off. He knew that this would be filed under 'all kinds of inappropriate' by the camp staff, but at least they were alone in the cabin and no one had seen. The only ones that needed to know about their little nap were them.

Blaine's watch told him that it was just about 6pm- almost time for dinner.

"Kurt...?"

The other boy stirred, moving closer and wrapping his arm tighter around Blaine's torso. Blaine couldn't help the grin that formed.

"Kurt, it's dinnertime. If we don't go eat now, we won't get anything until breakfast tomorrow."

Kurt grumbled something that sounded like "Five more minutes" and at that point Blaine couldn't hold in the chuckle.

The motion of his laughter jostled Kurt just enough to bring him to consciousness, and he blearily opened his eyes. It took him a moment to realize where he was and who he was holding onto. He sat up quickly, rubbing at his face.

"What...? Oh no, I'm so sorry Blaine! I didn't realize-I mean, I didn't mean to, but I-did we?"

Blaine nodded. "Yep. We performed the ultimate sin of napping together at camp. You, Mr. Sparrow, are a bad influence." He waggled his index finger at Kurt for emphasis, trying and failing to match it with a stern expression.

Kurt groaned and rolled over to the other side of the mattress.

"How embarrassing."

"Nah, I was out of it too. I just hope I didn't drool on you or something. Not exactly a super attractive thing to do."

Kurt was rubbing at his eyes again, a grimace of pain on his features, and Blaine was just about to ask if he was okay when Kurt pulled away, a contact lens on his finger.

"Ah, I shouldn't have slept in these. They hurt like hell if I don't take them out before sleeping."

He got up, then, moving over to his own bed area and digging through a few bags before he found the lens case. He dipped the one on his finger into one side and took a moment to repeat the action for the other eye. When he turned around, he was pulling on a pair of black-framed glasses, and Blaine felt a lump form in his throat.

From day one he'd recognized Kurt as an attractive human being- it was just a something about him that couldn't go unnoticed, at least not if you had functioning eyes. But the glasses just added...a little something extra.

"Those glasses...are nice."

Kurt reached up to touch the frames, feeling a bit self-conscious. "Oh. Yeah, I never wear them unless I absolutely have to. I know I probably look like a total nerd. Not that that's a bad thing, but it's just not how I normally present myself."

"I think they make you look cute."

Blaine clapped his hands over his mouth. "Please tell me you didn't hear that even though we're the only two people here and I said it at completely normal volume and oh god I'm just making an idiot of myself aren't I?"

Kurt paused for a moment, grinning. "That's okay. Sometimes things just slip out. I mean, I am pretty fabulous after all." He winked at Blaine then, who was pretty sure his heart was going to leap up his throat and flop around right there on the cabin floor.

Kurt just kept smiling at him. "Ready for dinner?"

Blaine's stomach rumbled in response, and both boys burst into laughter.

"Let's get you some food before that thing decides to rebel."

Dinner was delicious. As far as camp food went, Howard was definitely above par. Tonight's offering was shepherd's pie with dinner rolls, salad and fruit as sides, and little cups of pudding for dessert. The boys found seats at a table usually reserved for visitors and staff (Kurt had checked in with Jerico at their cabin's table, but had been told that he was still off duty and that he didn't need to come back until the meeting tonight), eating with gusto and chatting mostly with each other.

"What do you want to do now?" Blaine asked, after they'd finished dessert. "I mean...not to be presumptuous or anything to think that you'd still want to hang out after being together all day. After all, now that we're cabin mates we'll be together practically all day every day for the next two weeks." He smiled- even just saying the sentence out loud made him happy. "I hope you don't get sick of me."

Kurt scoffed. "Please. After spending the last five days with that idiot, you're a breath of fresh air. Now what do you say to that hike we didn't get to do earlier? We have a few hours to kill before campfire, and I need to burn off all this extra energy from that nap I somehow obtained." He rose, and Blaine followed him out to the porch.

This time there was no awkward standing around- they seemed to silently agree to take the same path as before, walking side by side. They walked past the wooden swing from before, and Kurt flushed a bit at the memory of what almost was. He'd never been in a situation like this before- was he supposed to bring it up into conversation? Were they even supposed to talk about it, or just ignore that it had ever even happened? But nothing _did _happen, so what was he even so worried about? Maybe he should just-

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Blaine had been watching Kurt for the last few minutes as they made their way along the path. His eyes had glazed over a bit as though deep in thought, and his brow was knitted in what appeared to be either concentration or concern, Blaine couldn't decide which.

Kurt looked up. "Just thinking about...stuff."

They'd followed the path far enough along that there was a break in the trees and a small creek that wound its way down the hillside. Blaine hopped up onto one of the large flat rocks lining the water and held his hand out to Kurt. He took it cautiously and it all felt very 'Aladdin helping Jasmine onto the flying carpet' in Kurt's mind, but he refrained from making any comment.

Blaine settled back onto the boulder once Kurt was up top and leaned back, supporting himself on his hands and crossing his feet. Kurt positioned himself next to Blaine, their shoulders barely touching, and found himself faced with a spectacular view. The forest they were in was mostly evergreen trees, but off in the distance was a sea of every color imaginable. Yellows and reds and oranges of the coniferous trees that had just begun to shed their leaves for the season. He was in awe.

"Kurt..."

Blaine's voice from his right caught his attention, and he turned to face him. Kurt thought he looked like he was having some sort of internal struggle, but decided to wait and see what he had to say.

"I just wanted to say that...that I'm very happy we'll be rooming together now."

"Me too, Blaine."


	9. Chapter 09

They sat in quiet for a time, watching the sun set behind the hills and the brilliant glow it created on everything it touched. Before they knew it, it was dark and the woods around them were alive with the sounds of the night. Thousands of stars shone overhead- more than either boy had ever seen at one time before. It was dazzling.

Blaine sighed, "I guess we should get back...it's going to be a bit of a walk."

Kurt looked over at him, barely able to make out the outline of his head in the darkness, when a thought struck him. "Um, Blaine. I don't suppose you thought to bring a flashlight, did you? These paths don't exactly have any lights on them."

Blaine froze. The thought had completely escaped his mind. And now here they were, at least a mile out into the woods with no way to see.

"I...didn't. Oh god, Kurt. We don't have any kind of light and these trails are ridiculous and we're going to get eaten by a bear or something!"

Kurt frowned, "I don't think that will happen, but I think I remember the way back. There are only so many gravel roads out here. If we just keep following the one we came on, we should get there eventually, right? Even if we make a wrong turn, we can go back the other way."

Blaine slid down carefully off of the boulder, being careful to not land himself directly in the creek before turning to Kurt. "Give me your hand. I don't want you to break something- I'd have to carry you the mile back to camp, and I can't imagine that would be very fun for either of us."

Kurt reached out, groping for Blaine. Their fingers connected, and Kurt eased himself off of the rock, stumbling slightly and causing Blaine to grab under his arms to keep him from toppling to the ground.

"Graceful as always." Kurt smirked. He took a moment to straighten himself, but kept Blaine's hand firmly clasped in his. It felt...right.

"We should keep..." he wriggled their hands, "you know, for safety. It's bad enough we have to find our way back in the dark. I don't want us getting separated."

Blaine nodded, but, realizing Kurt couldn't see him, spoke instead, looking at the spot he estimated Kurt's face to be. "Right. For safety."

They made their way along the gravel path, hands only clasping loosely at first, but gradually creating a firmer grip, Blaine's thumb unconsciously rubbing along the back of Kurt's hand.

A rustling in the bushes to their left caused Kurt to squeak in surprise and grab on tightly to Blaine's arm. Despite his concern that the rustling might be a hungry bear, Blaine smiled. Something Blaine estimated from the size to be a rabbit emerged from the bushes, only to dart back in quickly upon their approach.

It wasn't as difficult of a journey as either boy had expected. The lighter color of the gravel allowed them to at least vaguely make out the path they were walking on, and only once did they wander off course when they had come to a fork and Blaine had incorrectly guessed which one they needed to take. They had looped back around to the creek before realizing their error and turning around.

After about a half hour of walking, they saw familiar lights in the distance and heard voices. "It sounds like campfire has already started..." Blaine whispered.

They came upon the site, a huge campfire built in the pit at the front of the seats, which were now filled with tiny bundled up bodies. Moose was up front, tuning his guitar while Hana gave a bit of an introduction to what the nightly campfires would be about and what to expect.

Rather than interrupting by trying to find a place to sit on the logs when they arrived, Kurt instead led them over to the wooden bench swing. They sat, and Blaine was secretly pleased that Kurt didn't release his hand, but instead settled their clasped hands between them. He shivered, both from the excitement as well as the nip in the air combined with the fact that he hadn't brought more than a light sweater along.

The campfire event itself was just as awesome as Moose had told them it would be. They started out with cabin calls, each cabin being called on in turn and responding with a shout of some sort to announce that they were present. This was followed by a multitude of songs performed by various members of the staff, as well as a few student leaders. Kurt wondered if there was a signup sheet somewhere he had missed, and how hard it would be to get himself a spot. Maybe Blaine would sing with him...

Rachel was up front now, singing some song that Kurt wasn't paying attention to. Despite his nap earlier, the excitement of the day had finally caught up to him, and he leaned his head over onto Blaine's shoulder, yawning deeply.

"Getting tired?" Blaine asked, stifling a yawn of his own. "We could go back to the cabin if you want."

Kurt shook his head against Blaine's shoulder. "No, I want this day to last as long as possible. In spite of everything, it turned out really nice. I just want to let it go on for a bit longer."

They stayed like that for a bit, Kurt's head rising and falling with Blaine's breaths.

Eventually, Kurt finally started to sag into sleep, and Blaine tugged at his hand. "Come on, you. Let's get you to bed."

Kurt rose reluctantly, but the two boys managed to make their way back up the path and down to the cabin- _our cabin now. _Blaine thought.

He somehow got Kurt down to the bathroom to brush his teeth, then back to the cabin.

Kurt was turning towards his bag to retrieve his pajamas when something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned, not sure what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't Blaine.

Blaine, in just his pajama bottoms.

Blaine, _shirtless_.

His mouth dropped open- Blaine had...well, he had quite the body. Kurt never would have guessed that _that's _what was lurking underneath the sweaters and t-shirts. Even from the back, the view was something to behold.

Blaine turned around then, and Kurt panicked, trying to turn away and not be caught looking but attempting to jam a foot into his own pajamas at the same moment. He tripped over them, nearly hitting his head on the neighboring bunk and sprawling out over the cabin floor. He seemed to lose all sense of coordination around Blaine lately, and he wasn't amused.

"Jesus, Kurt! You're going to kill yourself one of these days if you're not careful!"

Kurt looked up, his face already flush with embarrassment from looking at Blaine and doubled by the fact that he was now on the floor in his underwear with Blaine crouching next to him- still lacking any kind of upper body garment but holding a bunched up shirt in his hand.

Kurt's breath caught.

His chest was glorious. Strong abs supported defined pectoral muscles and just a smattering of chest hair. He realized he was staring only a moment too late and raised his eyes to Blaine's.

"I, uh. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been looking. That was rude."

Blaine had seen Kurt's eyes on his body, but strangely didn't feel uncomfortable. It wasn't like he was leering at him or something. He was just...looking.

"It's fine, Kurt. It doesn't bother me."

Kurt let out the breath he'd been holding. He'd been waiting for Blaine to be angry, to be annoyed or feel violated or any other reaction but "not bothered". The lines seemed to be blurring for them between friendship and something else, but Kurt wasn't sure where the limit was anymore.

Kurt pulled himself to his feet, hiking up his pants in the process and setting his glasses on the windowsill, jumping into his bunk before he humiliated himself any further.

Blaine put on his night shirt (a Dalton Academy Phys Ed tee) and walked over to the door to turn the light off. "All set?"

"Yep. Tomorrow we're back to being parents of ten, so you'd better get your beauty rest."

The light went off, and Kurt closed his eyes.

"Kurt?" The voice came from directly next to him.

Kurt, who had assumed Blaine had walked back to his bed on the other side of the room after turning off the light, let out a small gasp.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to, I guess, make sure you were alright after everything that happened today."

Kurt felt a hand on his arm and sat up, finding Blaine's hand and tracing his fingers over the palm.

"I am because of you."

Blaine felt the familiar flutter in his stomach, accompanied by a strange prickling sensation behind his eyes.

"I'm really glad. I was so scared for you before. But you're so strong and resilient and just...wonderful."

Kurt felt emboldened. Now seemed like the right time.

"Blaine...I'd like to finish what we started earlier. You know, on the bench...if that's alright with you."

Blaine blinked in the dark, hardly believing what he was hearing. He just nodded dumbly.

As soon as Kurt had the go ahead, he pulled Blaine towards him.


	10. Chapter 10

I can't even with you guys. I'm so happy that so many people have read my little story and seem to be enjoying it. Thank you so much!

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Their lips connected, pressing against each other hesitantly at first. Kurt felt his pulse quicken, his heart lodging somewhere around his Adam's apple, and wondered vaguely in the back of his mind if Blaine was feeling something similar. He put a hand up to cup Blaine's cheek, moving his lips gently and refraining from simply jumping on top of Blaine like the evil little voice in the back of his head was telling him to.

They broke apart after a few moments, eyes fluttering open and meeting in the dark.

Blaine, now halfway onto Kurt's bed, fumbled for words.

"That was...woah."

"Please tell me that was 'woah' good or the next two weeks are going to be the most awkward ones of my entire existence."

"Yes, woah good. Woah very good."

Blaine reached for Kurt then with no hesitation. Their mouths met again, this time with more confidence.

Kurt's hands moved to tangle in Blaine's curls as he maneuvered himself back to allow Blaine the rest of the way onto the bed. His head was spinning with the smell and taste and everything that was Blaine all around him. He was fairly certain the cabin could have caught on fire and he would have been rooted to this spot. Their mouths moved against each other, Kurt's breathing coming heavier now as the kisses became more heated and needy.

Blaine relished the feeling of Kurt's fingers working their way along his scalp, a soft groan rumbling in his throat as the hands moved around to the sides of his neck. It was the most delicious sound Kurt had ever heard, and he was utterly thrilled that _he_ was the one responsible for coaxing that noise from Blaine.

Blaine nipped at Kurt's bottom lip, causing his breath to catch. Blaine smiled against Kurt's mouth in response.

He trailed a hand along one soft cheek, leaning over as he guided Kurt's head down to the pillow and moved his mouth to pepper kisses in a trail down the other boy's neck. One of his hands reached up and he interlaced their fingers, letting their clasped hands rest on the pillow above their heads as he sucked gently around Kurt's collar.

The feeling of Blaine's hot mouth on his skin made Kurt feel tingly all over, reaching all the way down to his toes and creating a tightness in his stomach. He gasped, leaning his head back into the pillow, but after a few moments used his free hand to lift Blaine's head back up to meet his lips, catching a small whimper of protest.

"Later." He murmured against Blaine's lips. "When I won't have to explain how I obtained a hickey to anyone."

Blaine began to agree, but suddenly, they froze. There were voices outside, faint but growing closer. They'd completely lost track of time and the kids were returning from campfire. Kurt groaned.

Blaine was a bit less eloquent.

"Shit. Shit shit shit." He rolled himself off of the bed and landed on the floor in a heap. Despite the circumstances, Kurt couldn't help but suppress a giggle.

Blaine had barely made it back to his side of the room and managed to dive into his sleeping bag when the door creaked open.

"Sparrow? Warbler? Are you guys in here?" Jerico's voice sounded from the doorway as the kids filed in.

"Yeah, we're here." Kurt's voice sounded from the dark. "Uh, we usually keep the light off and just put a flashlight in the middle of the room so everyone can get ready for bed if you don't mind. Keeps things calmer." _And hides the fact that Blaine and I probably look like we just ravaged each other._

A moment later, a flashlight was lit and Blaine watched Kurt place it on its end in the center of the room. He looked a little mussed, but no worse than if he'd been sleeping. Blaine attempted to pat his own hair down, knowing that the curls had to be out of control the way Kurt's hands had been running through them.

"I'll take them to the bathroom, then they're all yours."

"Thanks, Jerico. You were a real lifesaver today."

"It's no trouble at all. It was a fairly mellow day, and everyone seemed to have fun. Your boys are surprisingly well-behaved, at least compared to all the other groups I've seen. I hope you were able to have a relaxing day?"

Kurt nodded.

"It was nice, yeah. But oh! I should introduce...excuse me boys! Jackal had to go home because," He made eye contact with Jerico, whose look seemed to indicate that he should make something up, "...he wasn't feeling well. But we have a super awesome friend of mine here to help us instead for the rest of our time here. Everyone say hello to Warbler!"

The boys chorused a hello, and Blaine responded with a wave and a smile. "I'm looking forward to getting to know you guys. Sparrow's told me what a great group you are, and I can't wait to see it for myself!"

The door had just barely closed as Jerico took the boys to the bathroom to brush teeth and change into pajamas when Blaine found Kurt at his bedside, speaking in a hushed tone.

"That was a close one. But I don't want to leave it on that note. I really like you, Blaine. More than I probably should like someone I've only known for a week. And kissing you was amazing and I would very much like to do it again if that's okay with you. But we have to be careful. There aren't any rules about student leaders dating each other, but I think that's mostly because the boys and girls are so separate that they never thought it'd need to be in place. But we can't go parading around and flirting or else they might take you away from me. And I don't want that, Blaine- I want to spend as much time as possible with you."

Blaine nodded, grinning as Kurt pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

"I hope that was alright."

"Are you kidding me? If the kids weren't going to be back any minute I'd have half a mind to drag you in here with me."

Kurt kissed him one final time before pulling away. "If only."

He made his way back to his bed just as the kids returned. Everyone settled in for the night, Kurt removing the flashlight from the center and extinguishing it before going around to each bunk to say goodnight to everyone. When he got to Blaine's bunk, he whispered "Goodnight" and gave his hand a quick squeeze.

It wasn't long before Blaine fell into a peaceful sleep, his dreams filled with tender kisses and soft porcelain skin.


	11. Chapter 11

**I can't believe how amazing you all are. Thank you to themuse19 for the shout out. Model Behavior is one of my favorite fics, and it means a lot that Ri likes my story enough to recommend it to others. Please review and let me know what you think of the story so far and say hi! =)**

* * *

It wasn't difficult for Blaine to get into a routine and feel comfortable with the Cougar cabin. Kurt was a natural leader, and apparently Jackal had never done much anyway, so it was actually a relief for Kurt to not have to manage everything on his own anymore. It also helped that, as Jerico said, the kids were amazing and willing to listen to him even though he was new to them.

It was smooth sailing waking up and taking the kids to breakfast each morning, then out to their various field studies, returning for lunch, out for afternoon recreation, dinner then campfire each day. By day three of his time with them, Blaine felt as though he was supposed to have been assigned to the cabin all along. He and Kurt hadn't spoken about their tryst in the cabin since that night, but they'd been so busy there didn't seem to be any time for them to be alone. Even during rec time when the kids were away each day there always seemed to be at least one other person (usually Rachel) who insisted on hanging out with them.

Blaine was in the middle of a lesson on plant life and how to identify poison ivy when one of the staff members, a man named Orion, came down the trail.

"Warbler, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Blaine instructed his group to keep working on their plant journals while he stepped away.

"What's up, Orion?"

"I was wondering if you'd do us a favor this evening. Violet's partner just went into labor and she has to leave for the remainder of camp- Steph wasn't due for another few weeks, but the baby decided to make an early appearance. Unfortunately, this means that her slot at campfire is open."

"Because your cabin hasn't had a chance to perform yet, I was wondering if maybe you and Sparrow wanted to sing at tonight's campfire? Obviously you can say no, but I figured I'd give you first dibs if you wanted the spot. You'd need time to practice, of course, so I'm prepared to relieve you for the rest of the day."

Blaine grinned, "Of course! I mean, I'll have to check with Sparrow to be sure that he's okay with it, but I'm pretty sure he's been dying to sing and just hasn't said anything. This is so great! Thank you!"

"Fantastic!" He pulled a walkie-talkie from his belt. "Let me just radio Moose and let him know we've found a replacement, then you can go and find Sparrow. I believe he's out by the A-frame doing water studies with a group. He should be finished shortly, then you two can go off and figure out what you're going to perform." He chuckled to himself. "A Warbler and a Sparrow. A couple of songbirds. Very fitting."

Blaine practically floated to the A-frame. The building was situated just a bit west of the dining hall, and was the main meeting place for water study as it was adjacent to a small creek. He took a peek in through the front windows and saw a group of girls rapt with attention as Kurt stood, pointing at various pictures of the water cycle on the wall and gesturing theatrically as he explained what happened in each part.

He took a seat out on the porch and leaned his back against the building- he didn't want to interrupt, and while he would have loved to just stayed at the window and watched, he didn't want to keep staring at Kurt like a creeper. Plus, there were thousands of songs out there, and they had to decide on just one to perform. Assuming Kurt would say yes. _Of course he'll say yes. Stop worrying about it._

About ten minutes later, Rachel showed up to pick up her girls. "Hello, Mr. Warbler." She said, perching herself on the railing. "And just what brings you to the A-frame today?"

Blaine gestured to the window above him. "Just waiting for Sparrow. Violet won't be able to perform at campfire tonight, so Orion asked if we could fill in. I didn't want to interrupt, so I'm just waiting for them to be finished before asking."

Rachel's eyes widened. "You two are going to perform _together?_ Have you ever heard him sing before?" Blaine shook his head, and Rachel smirked. "You're in for a treat. That boy is a _countertenor._ I'll let you wait and hear for yourself just how amazing he is."

Just then, the door to the A-frame opened and the girls piled out, crowding up to Rachel. She greeted them enthusiastically, then sent a wink Blaine's way before leading the group away. Blaine stood, dusting off his pants and walking into the building.

Kurt was standing with his back to the door, using an eraser to remove the multitude of notes and drawings he'd made on the chalkboard during the lesson as he hummed quietly to himself. Blaine cleared his throat, and Kurt squeaked in surprise, the eraser clattering to the floor as he turned to face him.

"Sorry! That's exactly was I was trying to prevent." Blaine moved forward, picking up the eraser from the floor and holding it up for Kurt, who still had a hand over his heart.

"It's okay. I just wasn't expecting anyone." He took the eraser from Blaine, letting his fingers linger on the other boy's hand for just a moment longer than was really necessary. "What are you doing here, anyway? Not that I'm not completely thrilled to see you, I just wasn't expecting to spend any time with you until dinner tonight."

Blaine explained the situation and the problem it caused. "So Orion was hoping that maybe we would want to sing tonight. We'd have the rest of the afternoon off to pick a song and practice. So...do you want to?"

Kurt's eyes widened dramatically before he lunged forward and wrapped Blaine up in a hug.

"Are you kidding me, of course I want to! I've been dying since day one when Rachel was up there and I kind of hoped that maybe you'd want to sing with me because you mentioned being in a glee club and I've been kind of dying to hear you sing and oh god I shouldn't have said that out loud."

Kurt released Blaine and hurriedly began erasing the remainder off the board.

"This is great! Oh, but we need to pick a song! Did you have anything in mind? Since it's camp, we probably should stick to more traditional songs. Something tells me the staff wouldn't be too pleased if we came out singing 'I Kissed a Girl'. I know a few camp songs, but most of them are the cheesy chanting kind."

Blaine thought for a moment, taking a seat on one of the multiple worn couches in the room. "Do you know _Barges_?" he asked. Kurt shook his head.

"When I was younger, my dad sent me away to summer camp- it was an attempt to socialize me with other boys and turn me into...something I wasn't. We didn't have campfires each night like here, but we did sing a bit. And I remember always liking that song."

Kurt sat down next to Blaine. "Sing it for me?"

He nodded, getting to his feet.

"It's about a girl who was very sick, and she was stuck in a hospital for a long time. But her window overlooked a river, and she would see the barges. She was only able to write the two verses and the chorus before she passed away, so usually we'd hum out the last verse, although there are several people who have written alternate ending verses. But I'll just do the first two and a chorus to give you an idea."

He cleared his throat and began.

_Out of my window looking in the night_  
_I can see the barges' flickering light._  
_Silently flows the river to the sea_  
_and the barges do go silently._

_Barges I would like to go with you_  
_I would like to sail the ocean blue._  
_Barges have you treasures in your hold?_  
_Do you fight with pirates brave and bold?_

_Out of my window looking in the night_  
_I can see the barges' flickering light._  
_Starboard shines green and port is glowing red_  
_I can see the barges from my bed._ (1)

He finished, not realizing that he'd closed his eyes during the song and opened them to look at Kurt. Kurt was just staring at him, mouth slightly agape and eyes glazed over.

"Was that...okay? It's been awhile since I last sang it."

"Are you _kidding me_?! Blaine Warbler, you've been holding out on me. That was amazing!"

Blaine felt the flush creep up into his cheeks.

"That was superb! I had no idea what I was expecting, but it wasn't that. That song's perfect too. I can harmonize a bit above you, or we can take turns with the verses. What do you think?"

Blaine mentally shook himself. _This is no time to be embarrassed that a cute boy is flattering you. Get it together!_

"That sounds perfect."

Kurt flashed him a smile. "Great. I'm all done here, so maybe we can go back to the cabin and rehearse now?"

They swung by the dining hall to pick up a snack and ran into Moose, who offered the boys the use of his guitar for the number. Blaine had it strapped over his back as they made their way back to the cabin in silence, enjoying the sounds of nature all around them.

Once inside, Blaine leaned the guitar against the wall and flopped himself down onto his bed.

"So, we have the song choice, which was shockingly easier to agree on than I thought. Now we just need to practice." He leaned over to lift up the corner of his mattress, extracting a leather-bound notebook and a pen. Kurt raised an eyebrow. "What's that you've got there?"

"Oh. Just...my journal. I like to write down my thoughts sometimes or if something happens that I'd like to remember later on in life."

He flipped through to an empty page and started writing hastily, tearing the page off after a minute and handing it out to Kurt.

"Here are the lyrics. You already heard me sing it once, so the tune should be easy to catch on to. Do you want to try going through it once on your own to get the words down before we do the harmonies? Then I can work on the guitar part and we can put it all together."

Kurt took the sheet, admiring Blaine's tidy scrawl for a moment. He scanned the words briefly before moving to the center of the cabin, imagining himself on a kind of stage.

Then he opened his mouth and began to sing.

**Author's note: (1) This is one of my favorite camp songs, and the story Blaine talks about is the one we learned at my camp, but there are several variations. You can find the song on YouTube by searching for "Barges Camp Song".  
**


	12. Chapter 12

Blaine shot up from where he'd been laying as Kurt's voice found the first few notes. Rachel had said he was good, but she didn't say he was _this_ good.

Kurt had his eyes trained on the paper, so he didn't see Blaine staring openly at him. He also didn't see the wetness that had formed at the corners of his eyes or the way he got up and moved over to where Kurt was standing.

Kurt had just finished the first chorus and looked up from the paper, startled to see Blaine immediately next to him. Blaine's eyes shone wet with tears.

"Blaine, are you-?"

And then Blaine's lips were on his. The papers fluttered to the floor, forgotten as Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck. He felt the strong arms move around his waist, pulling their bodies together, and melted into the kiss.

Blaine's mouth was warm and inviting, pressing firmly against his own. Somewhere in the back of his head, Kurt knew they shouldn't be doing this, but a bigger part of him- the part that was currently running his fingers through Blaine's curls and sighing contentedly against the other boys lips- didn't care.

Blaine pulled back after a minute, his breathing heavy. He didn't let go of Kurt, but pressed their foreheads together.

"Kurt...I can't...you never...that was incredible."

Kurt smirked, "The song or the kiss?"

"Both. I never knew you were so talented, and I've never heard that song performed so beautifully. You just..."

Unable to find the appropriate words, he kissed Kurt again, walking backward and guiding them toward his mattress.

They fell onto the bed, Kurt laying awkwardly on top of Blaine as their mouths moved against each other. Blaine felt the moan vibrate in his throat as he parted his lips and pressed his tongue tentatively against Kurt's. Kurt's breath hitched at the sensation, feeling the tingle it sent down his spine, but opened his mouth and allowed Blaine's tongue to find his own.

It was an odd sensation at first, but Kurt tried to relax and leaned into it. He thought Blaine was making quite a bit of noise before he realized- _is that me? Oh god._

Then Blaine's hands were wandering, stroking Kurt's jaw and trailing down his neck. They moved down his sides, running over his back and shoulders and eliciting a soft groan of approval from Kurt.

He shifted himself slightly and felt Blaine hard against his thigh. _Oh..._

Blaine pulled away, blushing furiously. "Sorry. I just..."

"Shh...less talking. More kissing." Kurt leaned down again, covering Blaine's mouth with his own and earning a moan of pleasure from the other boy. He knew they were edging into a new territory, but he was certain that they wouldn't go any further than making out and maybe some groping- this was camp after all.

Blaine grabbed around Kurt's middle and rolled them so that he was now on top. He held himself up over Kurt, his breathing heavy and looking down at him with bright eyes. Kurt's lips were slightly swollen, his eyes half-lidded and he looked _stunning._

"You really are something, you know that, Kurt?"

Kurt smiled up at him, running a hand along the stubble that had formed on Blaine's jaw. Blaine leaned into the touch, kissing the palm of Kurt's hand as he closed his eyes and sighed.

"What's the matter?" Kurt asked, his brow furrowing.

"As much as I enjoy this, campfire is in a few hours and we haven't exactly practiced the song."

Kurt frowned. "I hate to say it, but you're right." He leaned his head up and kissed at a spot on Blaine's neck that he could reach. "This is so much more fun though."

Blaine reluctantly moved off of Kurt and lay down beside him, pressing lazy kisses to anywhere he could reach on Kurt's face and neck. "It is. And I may have to insist on more of it. But for now, we should rehearse."

The campfire that night was everything Kurt had hoped it would be and more. Orion introduced them as "The songbirds, Sparrow and Warbler!" and they'd walked up to the front, nearly a hundred faces staring back at them. The campfire was warm at their backs as they exchanged a glance and a smile. Blaine took a moment to explain the story behind the song, and encouraged everyone to hum along at the end when it came.

He begun plucking out the first few chords of the song, his rich tenor voice ringing out in the night. When Kurt joined him on the first chorus, singing a harmony, he watched the faces of the crowd. A number of them just seemed to be enjoying the song, but he saw a few eyebrows raise when he opened his mouth.

Kurt took over the second verse, just as they'd planned, and Blaine met up with him again on the chorus. They hummed the last verse and chorus together without the guitar accompaniment and were pleased to hear several other voices joining them. They finished up to a round of applause and took their bows before returning to sit with their cabin on the logs.

"That was great!" Kurt whispered. "You were amazing. That couldn't have gone any better. Everyone seemed to love it."

Kurt could make out Blaine's smile in the firelight. "You were amazing too. I'm so happy we were able to do this. Thank you." He put his hand over Kurt's and squeezed briefly before returning it to his lap.

Blaine had to fight the urge to hold Kurt's hand for the rest of the evening, only letting it brush against his momentarily as they stood outside the restrooms waiting for their boys to get ready for bed.

It was Blaine's turn that night to go around to each bunk and say goodnights. He saved Kurt for last, finding his hand in the darkness and following it up until he could stroke his cheek softly. He felt the lips press to his fingers and smiled.

"Goodnight, Sparrow."

"Goodnight, Warbler."


	13. Chapter 13

The next day, both Kurt and Rachel were assigned to teach about soil for that day's field study. Rachel decided right off that it'd be smart to combine their two smaller groups into one big one so that the kids could all work together, although given the looks she'd been giving him all morning, Kurt suspected it was mostly because she knew something was up and wanted to grill him.

After they'd done an icebreaker activity to acquaint everyone, they gave the instructions for the first activity and set them off to work.

Rachel sidled up next to Kurt, who was watching the kids go about gathering the different layers of soil and put them into their little paper profiles. "Well...?"

Kurt didn't take his eyes off the group. "Well what, Star?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Sparrow. He's in your cabin now. He has been for several days. You guys _sang together _last night and you've been grinning like a dope all morning. Has anything happened yet? _Please _tell me you've at least attempted some kind of move on him. I see the looks he gives you- that boy is definitely interested."

_Oh, I think I know exactly his level of interest, Rachel._

Kurt shook his head, but the flush on his cheeks betrayed him and made Rachel squeal with excitement. "I _KNEW_ IT! Spit it out. What happened?"

Kurt couldn't keep the grin from forming as he told her. "We may have kissed. Multiple times. It was wonderful. I may have actually passed out at some point from how great it was."

Rachel gaped at him for a moment before smacking his arm with her palm. "And you didn't _tell_ me? We are _supposed_ to be best friends! You are going to give me every last detail the moment we get home, and the only reason I'm not going to force it out of you this very second is because these poor children don't need to hear what's happened in their cabin when they weren't around."

She paused, thinking for a moment.

"But you obviously can't keep that behavior up. If you get caught I'm sure there would be some kind of consequence. Are you going to ask him out? What about after camp? Do I smell double dates with me and Finn?" She began to bounce up and down, clinging to his arm. "Oh please please please can we double?"

Kurt extracted himself from her clutch. "We'll see. I mean, I don't even really know what's going on between us or if he'd even be interested in dating once we're back home. We haven't exactly had a chance to talk about it."

Rachel frowned. "Well, you'd better find time. It's not good to just give go giving yourself to someone like that when they could potentially ditch you afterwards. You never struck me as the type to just kiss and run."

"You sound just like my dad. And I'm not. I definitely think he's worth dating, but it's been twice now that we've kind of...taken advantage of being alone, and I still don't know what he's thinking- if it's just a summer camp fling or what. I hope it's not, but as much as it pains me to say, you're right. We need to figure it out before anything else happens. It seems like every time we're alone we just...lose our inhibitions."

One of the kids, a blonde-haired girl with glasses, walked up to them. "Star, can you help me? I can't find any bedrock. It's too far down!" Rachel smiled kindly at her, "It's okay, Sarah. You're right that the bedrock is the furthest down, so it'd be pretty darn tough to get at it. Instead, you can just pick up a small rock off the ground and use that to represent it. Does that sound okay? Do you think you can go tell the others that for me?"

Sarah nodded, skipping back to the group as Rachel turned back to Kurt. "Well, I recommend laying off until you figure out what exactly is happening between you two. I don't know the full scale of what happened with Jackal, and frankly I'm not sure I do because it's guaranteed to throw me into a rage. But I just want you to be sure of your feelings. That you're not just doing these things because you feel like you owe him something."

Kurt blinked at her. Honestly, the thought had never occurred to him. While he did feel he owed Blaine _something_ for what happened in the bathroom, he wasn't sure that the kisses were directly related. He shrugged. "I'll try talking to him about it the next time we get some time together."

Kurt's next moment alone with Blaine came the very next day, much sooner than he had expected. The busy schedule hadn't allowed them to find any more time to sneak away, which a small part of Kurt was thankful for. He had just cleaned up the soil study area for that day's lesson and was carrying a tub of the supplies back to the small cabin they used to store everything in when he heard crunching footsteps behind him. Rachel had already taken the kids back for lunch, so he knew it couldn't have been them. He turned, and was faced with a rather pleased-looking Blaine.

"Ha!"

"Pardon?"

"Ha! I found you!"

"So it would appear that you have. And to what do I owe the pleasure?" Kurt was trying to rein himself in, not allowing himself to get sucked in by those gorgeous hazel eyes and the stubble he hadn't gotten around to shaving yet and his lips and those _curls_ and oh god his resolve was crumbling already.

Blaine looked a little confused at the cold reception. "I thought you'd be happy to so see me...but if you're busy I can go-" He turned to leave the way he came.

"No! Wait...I'm sorry. I am happy to see you." _I just can't let this turn into something else before we get a chance to talk._

Blaine turned back and closed the few steps between them, lifting the tub that Kurt was carrying from his hands with a smile.

"Good. Now let me take that off your hands and you point to where we need to go. I'll be your pack mule. I'd offer you a piggy back ride too, but that might end in disaster on these uneven paths."

Kurt led them up the trail to the cabin and opened the door, finding it empty inside.

He pointed to a corner. "You can just put it over there. Are you going to lunch now too?"

Blaine set down the tub and turned towards Kurt. "Actually, yeah. But first..."

Kurt knew it was going to happen before the words were even out of Blaine's mouth. Despite what he'd just told Rachel the day before, he couldn't help himself when Blaine pulled him into his arms, cupping his face with one hand and peppering kisses across his neck and jaw before capturing his lips. It felt right to be kissing Blaine, and one of Kurt's hands found its way into his hair as he used the other to pull their bodies flush together. It was sensory overload, and Kurt made a pleased noise deep in his throat.

They broke apart after a moment, Kurt sighing happily as Blaine looked up at him, tousled, but there was something else there... _He looks conflicted. About us? Does he feel the same way? Is he having second thoughts? This would be the perfect opportunity to say something about it._

Blaine pressed his lips to Kurt's gently again, before releasing the other boy and sighing. "We can't keep doing this, can we?"

Kurt frowned. He was 99% sure Blaine was talking about what he hoped they were talking about, but wanted to make sure. Was Blaine having second thoughts? "Can't keep doing what?"

"This!" Blaine gestured between them. "I don't even know what this is. All I know is that we've kissed several times and now I'm having crazy daydreams about whisking you away for coffee dates and holding your hand and just...I don't know what to do with all of the crazy because I don't know what this is between us."

Kurt moved over to one of the benches lining the wall, sitting and patting the space next to him. Blaine sat, leaning his elbows on his knees and resting his chin in his palms.

"Blaine, I'm not too sure what this is either. I know what I'd like it to be, but it does seem like it's happened fast for only knowing each other for such a short amount of time. Maybe we should...lay off? Wait until camp is over and try picking up then when we're not so paranoid about being caught and tossed out? I don't like the idea, because kissing you is amazing, but it might be what needs to happen."

Blaine didn't like the idea either, but knew that it was probably best for everyone involved.

"Maybe? I mean, I really like you, Kurt. At least, I really like what parts of you I've gotten to know so far."

He blanched, "Oh god, that sounded wrong. I didn't mean-"

Kurt laughed, patting his shoulder. "I know what you mean. And I like you too. And I _really_ like kissing you. But maybe we can agree to tone it down a bit? Get to know each other for the remainder of camp, then see what happens afterwards? We got on the same bus coming here so we can't live too far apart. Maybe after this is all over, we can go on a date?"

Blaine looked up, eyes hopeful, and Kurt's heart lurched. "A date? I haven't been on one of those in...ever." Kurt looked at him skeptically. "No, really! I mean, I've been asked before. Mostly by girls. But I've never gone. Even when it was guys, I never wanted to say yes."

Kurt nodded. "Me either. I mean, I went out with this girl once when I was trying to convince my dad I was straight." Blaine raised an eyebrow. "I failed miserably, don't you worry. But a date with you might be nice." He kissed Blaine's cheek, pulling away only slightly before planting one more for good measure. "At the very least, I may have to keep doing that, if that's okay with you."

Blaine answered with a grin, "More than okay."

Kurt stood. "Let's get to lunch, okay? We can talk more when we have free time. I didn't get to shower yesterday, so I'll be doing that while the kids are off doing activities with the staff this afternoon, but afterwards we can hang out in the cabin if you want. Maybe play a game of 'ask me anything' or something horribly cliché like that."

"Sounds like a plan to me. I may need to shower too, though. I don't get to use any gel or anything out here, so if I don't shower at least every other day, birds start looking to make their home in my hair."


	14. Chapter 14

Blaine was back at the cabin after showering and was putting his things away when Kurt walked in. This was the first time they'd been alone together since having "the talk", so he wanted to be careful with his actions.

As much as he wanted nothing more than to draw Kurt into his arms and smother him with kisses, he knew that taking it back a step was smart. He'd even made sure to go down to the showers early so as to keep himself from being around when Kurt wasn't fully clothed.

He turned to face the other boy, rubbing his still-wet hair with his towel.

"Hey. I already finished up showering, but I'll just hang out here and read or something until you're done."

Kurt smiled, "Sounds good. I'll be back in a bit."

While Kurt was off showering, Blaine opened the cabin windows to let in a breeze and relaxed on his bunk. He took out the journal from under the corner of his mattress and began to write:

_Kurt and I finally talked today about what's been going on between us. To be honest, I'm kind of relieved that he suggested we take it back a step. Kissing him is incredible, but I can't help but be totally freaked out. I've never kissed a boy after knowing him for such a short period of time- but with Kurt it's like I'm just drawn to him or something. I can't help the way my body reacts whenever I'm within ten feet of him and I know it's batshit crazy, but I really do think I'm starting to have feelings for him. It makes me wonder if there's such a thing as fate._

He read back over the last sentences critically. Now that it was on paper, Blaine realized just how true it was.

_Getting to know Kurt over the past week and a half has been the best part about this camp. The kids are plenty nice, and the staff and other student leaders I've met are great, but Kurt is just...Kurt. I really hope we can follow through once we get back and go out on a date or something. After living with him in this cabin, it's going to be weird not having him around all the time._

There was a knock on the door and Blaine looked up curiously. The doors didn't lock, so there was no way it was Kurt. He got up and opened the door, surprised to see Moose standing on the porch.

"Hey Warbler, is Sparrow here too?"

Blaine shook his head. "He's off taking a shower, but he'll be back soon. What's up?"

"I just wanted to let you know that on the last night during dinner, we let the kids put on a talent show. We'll have both the piano in the dining hall as well as my guitar to use, so if any of your boys have talent they'd like to share, just let me know and we'll get them scheduled. There's also a signup sheet in the dining hall for final campfire performances, and I hope that I can count on you and Sparrow to take one of the spots. You two were great together the other night."

Blaine was thrilled. "Of course! I mean, I'll have to check with Sparrow, but I can't imagine he'd say no after how much fun we had last time. I'll let him know as soon as he gets back!"

Moose smiled. "Great! I've got a few other cabins to make rounds to before the kids come back, but I'm looking forward to hearing what you guys come up with this time. You two have a lot of talent."

"I appreciate you letting us know. I'll let you know if any of the boys have any appropriate talents to share. Something tells me you're not looking for armpit farts or belching the alphabet over dinner."

He heard Moose laugh as he shut the door and went back to his bunk, picking up his journal and beginning a new paragraph.

_Moose just came by and said he wants me and Kurt to perform at the final campfire. I really hope Kurt says yes- singing with him was infinitely better than any performance at Dalton. Not just because of the making out that occurred during practice- is it weird that I still get tingles thinking about it?- but because it wasn't just me up there belting out the lead with everyone else swaying behind me. It was two equal parts becoming a whole. It was wonderful._

_But I'm not really sure what to do about the rest of camp. I keep having these compulsions to just grab him and kiss him, but I shouldn't. He's supposed to be back any minute now, and we're going to play "ask me anything" or some other game to get to know each other better. This should be interesting, to say the least. I just want it on record that I'm going to try my hardest to keep to our agreement and not jump on top of him when he comes back all freshly showered and sexy._

Blaine exhaled in exasperation, knowing that it was going to be a struggle. He added a final line to the entry:

_But I make no promises._

Just as Blaine was closing the journal and tucking it back into its place under the mattress, the door opened and Kurt entered, a towel resting on his shoulders and hair tousled. He was wearing his glasses again, and Blaine sucked in a breath as he felt his stomach flutter. _Oh no you don't. Keep it in your pants, Anderson._

"Good shower?"

Kurt turned to put his toiletries away. "The showers here certainly leave a lot to be desired in terms of luxury, but it was hot water so I can't complain."

Kurt spun back around and noticed that Blaine seemed to be sitting awkwardly on his bed, looking down at his hands as if unsure what to do with himself.

"Are you okay? You look...conflicted about something."

Blaine steeled himself before speaking.

"I think the best thing to do here would be to address that yes, I am thinking about kissing you right now. But I'm not going to, because I'm trying to tell myself that I can't just throw myself at some guy, no matter how gorgeous and willing he is. That I need to get to know him better first. That it'll be better if we do."

Kurt took a few steps and closed the space between them, cupping Blaine's cheek in one hand and lifting his head so that their eyes met. "Blaine, I have to tell you that I'm thinking about kissing you too. But I have to tell myself that while I really like you, if I want this to last any length of time it has to be about more than hot makeout sessions when the kids aren't around. I don't want to mess up what could potentially be a really good thing."

Blaine nodded, knowing Kurt was right. Making out on the bunks was great, and it made Blaine feel things he thought were long dormant inside of his chest, but the reality of the situation was that it wasn't sustainable.

He took the hand from under his chin into his own, squeezing it briefly before letting it go.

"So. What's this about getting to know each other games?"


End file.
